Daily Life Tasks Research Articles

Impact of knee osteoarthritis on the quality of life

The aging of the population is of osteoarthritis a major public health problem. It is a source of pain and functional disability and therefore has a very important social and professional impact. To review the quality of life for knee osteoarthritis people across scales. descriptive prospective study over 6 months of 30 knee OA patients collected in physical medicine and functional rehabilitation of Ibn Rushd University Hospital, Casablanca, Morocco. The patients underwent clinical and paraclinical evaluation. Rating scales used: visual analogue scale (VAS pain), the algofunctional Lequesne score, score and WOMAC SF36. The mean age was 42.53 ± 11.41 years with predominantly female (80%) VAS pain was 5 on average. The algofunctional Lequesne score was 9.31 on average. WOMAC score was 63.63 on average. SF36 physical health was at 40.63 and mental health SF36 was on average 44.20 each. In conclusion, algofunctional rating scales and quality of life were impaired in knee OA patients. Osteoarthritis is one of the ten most disabling diseases in developed countries and increasing life expectancy and aging populations should bring the fourth leading cause of disability for 2020. Knee osteoarthritis is the most common arthritic location and the impact of its symptomatic form is estimated at 240/100,000 people per year. It limits the movement of patients in 80% of cases and 25% find themselves unable to perform the tasks of daily life. These disabilities, mainly related to pain, manifested by difficulty in walking, climbing stairs, to the performance of household chores or when sitting upright and change is accompanied by a decrease in quality of life and an important psychological impact.

A Comparative Analysis of 2D and 3D Tasks for Virtual Reality Therapies Based on Robotic-Assisted Neurorehabilitation for Post-stroke Patients.

Post-stroke neurorehabilitation based on virtual therapies are performed completing repetitive exercises shown in visual electronic devices, whose content represents imaginary or daily life tasks. Currently, there are two ways of visualization of these task. 3D virtual environments are used to get a three dimensional space that represents the real world with a high level of detail, whose realism is determinated by the resolucion and fidelity of the objects of the task. Furthermore, 2D virtual environments are used to represent the tasks with a low degree of realism using techniques of bidimensional graphics. However, the type of visualization can influence the quality of perception of the task, affecting the patient's sensorimotor performance. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate if there were differences in patterns of kinematic movements when post-stroke patients performed a reach task viewing a virtual therapeutic game with two different type of visualization of virtual environment: 2D and 3D. Nine post-stroke patients have participated in the study receiving a virtual therapy assisted by PUPArm rehabilitation robot. Horizontal movements of the upper limb were performed to complete the aim of the tasks, which consist in reaching peripheral or perspective targets depending on the virtual environment shown. Various parameter types such as the maximum speed, reaction time, path length, or initial movement are analyzed from the data acquired objectively by the robotic device to evaluate the influence of the task visualization. At the end of the study, a usability survey was provided to each patient to analysis his/her satisfaction level. For all patients, the movement trajectories were enhanced when they completed the therapy. This fact suggests that patient's motor recovery was increased. Despite of the similarity in majority of the kinematic parameters, differences in reaction time and path length were higher using the 3D task. Regarding the success rates were very similar. In conclusion, the using of 2D environments in virtual therapy may be a more appropriate and comfortable way to perform tasks for upper limb rehabilitation of post-stroke patients, in terms of accuracy in order to effectuate optimal kinematic trajectories.

Movement quality of conventional prostheses and the DEKA Arm during everyday tasks.

Conventional prosthetic devices fail to restore the function and characteristic movement quality of the upper limb. The DEKA Arm is a new, advanced prosthesis featuring a compound, powered wrist and multiple grip configurations. The purpose of this study was to determine if the DEKA Arm improved the movement quality of upper limb prosthesis users compared to conventional prostheses. Case series. Three people with transradial amputation completed tasks of daily life with their conventional prosthesis and with the DEKA Arm. A total of 10 healthy controls completed the same tasks. The trajectory of the wrist joint center was analyzed to determine how different prostheses affected movement duration, speed, smoothness, and curvature compared to patients' own intact limbs and controls. Movement quality decreased with the DEKA Arm for two participants, and increased for the third. Prosthesis users made slower, less smooth, more curved movements with the prosthetic limb compared to the intact limb and controls, particularly when grasping and manipulating objects. The effects of one month of training with the DEKA Arm on movement quality varied with participants' skill and experience with conventional prostheses. Future studies should examine changes in movement quality after long-term use of advanced prostheses. Clinical relevance Movement quality with the DEKA Arm may depend on the user's previous experience with conventional prostheses. Quantitative analyses are needed to assess the efficacy of novel prosthetic devices and to better understand how to train people to use them effectively.

Interrater Reliability and Concurrent Validity of a New Rating Scale to Assess the Performance of Everyday Life Tasks in Dementia: The Core Elements Method.

Errorless learning (EL) is an instructional procedure involving error reduction during learning. Errorless learning is mostly examined by counting correctly executed task steps or by rating them using a Task Performance Scale (TPS). Here, we explore the validity and reliability of a new assessment procedure, the core elements method (CEM), which rates essential building blocks of activities rather than individual steps. Task performance was assessed in 35 patients with Alzheimer's dementia recruited from the Relearning methods on Daily Living task performance of persons with Dementia (REDALI-DEM) study using TPS and CEM independently. Results showed excellent interrater reliabilities for both measure methods (CEM: intraclass coefficient [ICC] = .85; TPS: ICC = .97). Also, both methods showed a high agreement (CEM: mean of measurement difference [MD] = -3.44, standard deviation [SD] = 14.72; TPS: MD = -0.41, SD = 7.89) and correlated highly (>.75). Based on these results, TPS and CEM are both valid for assessing task performance. However, since TPS is more complicated and time consuming, CEM may be the preferred method for future research projects.

Subject-specific thumb muscle activity during functional tasks of daily life

BackgroundThe trapeziometacarpal joint is subjected to high compressive forces during powerful pinch and grasp tasks due to muscle loading. In addition, muscle contraction is important for stability of the joint. The aim of the present study is to explore if different muscle activation patterns can be found between three functional tasks. MethodsIsometric forces and fine-wire electromyographic (fEMG) activity produced by three intrinsic and four extrinsic thumb muscles were measured in 10 healthy female volunteers. The participants performed isometric contractions in a lateral key pinch, a power grasp and a jar twist task. The tasks were executed with and without EMG recording to verify if electrode placement influenced force production. ResultsA subject-specific muscle recruitment was found which remained largely unchanged across tasks. Extrinsic thumb muscles were significantly more active than intrinsic muscles in all tasks. Insertion of the fEMG electrodes decreased force production significantly in all tasks. ConclusionThe thumb muscles display a high variability in muscle activity during functional tasks of daily life. The results of this study suggest that to produce a substantial amount of force, a well-integrated, but subject-specific, co-contraction between the intrinsic and extrinsic thumb muscles is necessary.

THE EFFECTS OF STRUCTURED RELEARNING METHODS ON DAILY LIVING TASK PERFORMANCE OF PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA: RESULTS FROM THE REDALI-DEM TRIAL

THE EFFECTS OF STRUCTURED RELEARNING METHODS ON DAILY LIVING TASK PERFORMANCE OF PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA: RESULTS FROM THE REDALI-DEM TRIAL

Compensatory larger cortical thickness in healthy elderly individuals with electroencephalographic risk for cognitive decline.

Excess theta electroencephalographic (EEG) activity has been described as an accurate predictor for cognitive decline at least 7 years before symptom presentation. To test whether this predictor for cognitive decline correlates with structural changes in the brains of healthy elderly individuals, we compared the magnetic resonance structural images of healthy individuals with excess of theta activity [group with a risk for cognitive decline, risk group (RG); n=14] with healthy controls with normal EEG activity (control group; n=14). Neuropsychological and epidemiological analyses showed significant differences in only two features: more years of education and better performance in the visuospatial process task in the control group. Voxel-based morphometry results were not conclusive, but showed tendencies toward larger volumes in the prefrontal and parietal lobes, and smaller volumes in the right temporal lobe, right occipital lobe, and left cerebellum for the RG; these tendencies are in agreement with those proposed by the posterior-anterior shift in an aging model. Cortical-thickness analyses yielded a significant correlation between cortical thickness and years of education in the prefrontal and inferior-temporal regions, and larger cortical thickness in the RG, independent of age and years of education, in the right superior temporal region. These results suggest changes in the cortical thickness of structures related to memory and visuospatial functions in healthy, cognitively normal individuals before the appearance of cognitive decline. Thus, the performance of healthy elderly individuals with EEG risk may only be slightly different from normal because of compensation mechanisms allowing them to fulfill daily-life tasks, masking structural changes during preclinical neurocognitive disorders.

Goal Management Training and Mindfulness Meditation improve executive functions and transfer to ecological tasks of daily life in polysubstance users enrolled in therapeutic community treatment

BackgroundWe have previously shown that Goal Management Training+Mindfulness Meditation (GMT+MM) improves executive functions in polysubstance users enrolled in outpatient treatment. The aim of this study was to establish if GMT+MM has similar positive effects on executive functions in polysubstance users in residential treatment, and if executive functions’ gains transfer to more ecologically valid goal-oriented tasks. MethodsThirty-two polysbustance users were randomly allocated to eight weeks of GMT+MM (n=16) or control, i.e., no-intervention (n=16); both groups received treatment as usual. Outcome measures included performance in laboratory tasks of basic and complex executive functions (i.e., basic: working memory and inhibition; complex: planning and self-regulation) and in an ecological task of goal-directed behavior (the Multiple Errands Test − contextualized version, MET-CV) measured post-interventions. ResultsResults showed that GMT+MM was superior to control in improving basic measures of working memory (Letter-number sequencing; F=4.516, p=0.049) and reflection impulsivity (Information Sampling Test; F=6.217, p=0.018), along with initial thinking times during planning (Zoo Map Test; F=8.143, p=0.008). In addition, GMT+MM was superior to control in improving performance in the MET-CV (task failures; F=8.485, p=0.007). ConclusionOur findings demonstrate that GMT+MM increases reflective processes and the achievement of goals in daily activities, furthermore ecological test can detects changes easily than laboratory tasks.

Patterns and reliability of EEG during error monitoring for internal versus external feedback in schizophrenia

BackgroundAccurately monitoring one's performance on daily life tasks, and integrating internal and external performance feedback are necessary for guiding productive behavior. Although internal feedback processing, as indexed by the error-related negativity (ERN), is consistently impaired in schizophrenia, initial findings suggest that external performance feedback processing, as indexed by the feedback negativity (FN), may actually be intact. The current study evaluated internal and external feedback processing task performance and test-retest reliability in schizophrenia. Methods92 schizophrenia outpatients and 63 healthy controls completed a flanker task (ERN) and a time estimation task (FN). Analyses examined the ΔERN and ΔFN defined as difference waves between correct/positive versus error/negative feedback conditions. A temporal principal component analysis was conducted to distinguish the ΔERN and ΔFN from overlapping neural responses. We also assessed test-retest reliability of ΔERN and ΔFN in patients over a 4-week interval. ResultsPatients showed reduced ΔERN accompanied by intact ΔFN. In patients, test-retest reliability for both ΔERN and ΔFN over a four-week period was fair to good. ConclusionIndividuals with schizophrenia show a pattern of impaired internal, but intact external, feedback processing. This pattern has implications for understanding the nature and neural correlates of impaired feedback processing in schizophrenia.

Midlife job profiles and disabilities in later life: a 28-year follow-up of municipal employees in Finland.

Occupations during adult life may have long-term effects and subsequently increase the risk of disability in old age. We investigated the associations between job profile groups in midlife and disability in old age for women and men. This prospective 28-year follow-up study (1981-2009) examined 2998 municipal employees (1892 women and 1106 men) aged 44-58years at baseline. A detailed analysis of the demands of 88 occupations based on interviews and observations at the work places was made at baseline. Thirteen job profile clusters emerged. Questionnaire information on health, lifestyle and socio-demographic factors was collected at baseline. In 2009, five Activities of Daily Living and seven Instrumental Activities of Daily Living tasks were assessed. A sum score of '0-12' was calculated using 12 dichotomous tasks where '0' indicates no difficulties in any tasks and '1-12' indicates increasing disability. Negative binomial regression was used to calculate rate ratios (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for disability due to midlife job profiles. After adjusting for age, socioeconomic, lifestyle and health-related characteristics, women in auxiliary (RR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.2), home care (2.1, 1.4-3.2), kitchen supervision (2.0, 1.1-3.6) and office (1.6, 1.1-2.4) job profiles had a higher risk of disability in later life than those in administrative jobs. Auxiliary (1.5, 1.1-2.9) and technical supervision (1.7, 1.1-2.7) job profiles carried an increased risk among men. Midlife job profiles mainly linked with physically heavy work were strong predictors of disability in later life. In women, office work also increased the risk of disability.

Relearning of Writing Skills in Parkinson's Disease After Intensive Amplitude Training.

Micrographia occurs in approximately 60% of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Although handwriting is an important task in daily life, it is not clear whether relearning and consolidation (ie the solid storage in motor memory) of this skill is possible in PD. The objective was to conduct for the first time a controlled study into the effects of intensive motor learning to improve micrographia in PD. In this placebo-controlled study, 38 right-handed people with PD were randomized into 2 groups, receiving 1 of 2 equally time-intensive training programs (30 min/day, 5 days/week for 6 weeks). The experimental group (n = 18) performed amplitude training focused at improving writing size. The placebo group (n = 20) received stretch and relaxation exercises. Participants' writing skills were assessed using a touch-sensitive writing tablet and a pen-and-paper test, pre- and posttraining, and after a 6-week retention period. The primary outcome was change in amplitude during several tests of consolidation: (1) transfer, using trained and untrained sequences performed with and without target zones; and (2) automatization, using single- and dual-task sequences. The group receiving amplitude training significantly improved in amplitude and variability of amplitude on the transfer and automatization task. Effect sizes varied between 7% and 17%, and these benefits were maintained after the 6-week retention period. Moreover, there was transfer to daily life writing. These results show automatization, transfer, and retention of increased writing size (diminished micrographia) after intensive amplitude training, indicating that consolidation of motor learning is possible in PD. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Neural Summation in the Hawkmoth Visual System Extends the Limits of Vision in Dim Light

Most of the world's animals are active in dim light and depend on good vision for the tasks of daily life. Many have evolved visual adaptations that permit a performance superior to that of manmade imaging devices [1]. In insects, a major model visual system, nocturnal species show impressive visual abilities ranging from flight control [2, 3], to color discrimination [4, 5], to navigation using visual landmarks [6-8] or dim celestial compass cues [9, 10]. In addition to optical adaptations that improve their sensitivity in dim light [11], neural summation of light in space and time-which enhances the coarser and slower features of the scene at the expense of noisier finer and faster features-has been suggested to improve sensitivity in theoretical [12-14], anatomical [15-17], and behavioral [18-20] studies. How these summation strategies function neurally is, however, presently unknown. Here, we quantified spatial and temporal summation in the motion vision pathway of a nocturnal hawkmoth. We show that spatial and temporal summation combine supralinearly to substantially increase contrast sensitivity and visual information rate over four decades of light intensity, enabling hawkmoths to see at light levels 100 times dimmer than without summation. Our results reveal how visual motion is calculated neurally in dim light and how spatial and temporal summation improve sensitivity while simultaneously maximizing spatial and temporal resolution, thus extending models of insect motion vision derived predominantly from diurnal flies. Moreover, the summation strategies we have revealed may benefit manmade vision systems optimized for variable light levels [21].

Shifting Towards Autonomy: A Continuing Care Model for Canada

For many seniors, their greatest health concern is the ongoing care that many of them will need as their ability to cope with the routine tasks of daily life declines. Due to various chronic health problems or just old age, supportive services for seniors – often referred to as continuing care – encompass a wide range of needs, from help with daily meals in patients’ homes to institutional care for those with major cognitive or physical disabilities. On this score, many Canadians have expressed concerns about affordability and access to care in their desired location. The state of continuing care in Canada is troublesome on a number of fronts, including the rising stress on caregivers, long waits for nursing home beds, and unmet homecare needs. More than one in four Canadians provide care to family or friends, and among this group one in 10 provides more than 30 hours weekly, often with significant disruption to their paid work. It has been estimated that more than 15 percent of all acute-care hospital beds in Canada are filled every day with patients waiting for care in a location outside a hospital, costing provincial governments slightly under $3 billion per year. And although there has been an increase in subsidized care in people’s homes in recent years, the provinces appear to be well behind the international trend in this regard and will struggle to keep pace with rising demand. Canada’s provinces can learn important lessons from the debates and reforms in other developed countries. A number of them have faced the same challenges but have been much more proactive in establishing a framework for supporting greater independence among the elderly. In doing so, they have recognized that shifting more services to the home and community is a key goal. The experience abroad shows several countries, such as France, Germany and recently Australia, have implemented self-directed models of care delivery, boosting patient satisfaction by giving individuals and families a greater say in their care packages. Two of the biggest challenges for governments contemplating more cash-based, self-directed benefits for continuing-care services are impact on government budgets and quality assurance. All countries we studied have, however, managed to overcome these challenges, at least to some degree, through restrictions on the size of the subsidy to those with substantial means or available family help and by establishing oversight in the use of the cash subsidies. In the study, we sketch a provincial continuing care model that would draw on these countries’ experience. Establishing a new comprehensive self-directed model along the lines we propose will require: an assessment system; means testing; a funding mechanism that is based on need but controls government costs; an oversight system to ensure quality and enforce restrictions on use; and, establishing who will oversee, coordinate and be accountable for care. The time to adopt new systems of supportive services for the elderly is now – before many more retiring babyboomers start drawing heavily on them.

Adaptive Aid on Targeted Robot Manipulator Movements in Tele-Assistance

AbstractThe teleoperation of robot manipulators over the internet suffers from variable delays in the communications. Here we address a tele-assistance scenario, where a remote operator assists a disabled or elderly user on daily life tasks. Our behavioral approach uses local environment information from robot sensing to help enable faster execution for a given movement tolerance. This is achieved through a controller that automatically slows the operator down before having collisions, using a set of distributed proximity sensors. The controller is made to gradually increase the assistance in situations similar to those where ollisions have occurred in the past, thus adapting to the given operator, robot and task-set. Two controlled virtual experiments for tele-assistance with a 5 DOF manipulator were performed, with 300 ms and 600 ms mean variable round-trip delays. The results showed significant improvements in the median times of 12.6% and 16.5%, respectively. Improvements in the subjective workload were also seen with the controller. A first implementation on a physical robot manipulator is described.

Control of a cost oriented humanoid robot

Abstract: The teen-sized humanoid robot Archie is developed by the Intelligent Handling and Robotics Department (IHRT) at the Technical University of Vienna. The main idea behind “Archie” is to develop a Cost Oriented Humanoid Robot (COHR) to assist humans in their daily life tasks. Currently, the robot consists of 18 degrees of freedom and is able to perform basic human-like walking motions. According to the scope of TECIS this robot is an excellent example for “Cost Orientation”. Until now the control of the joints was carried out by industrial controllers. These are expensive, heavy and have only limited possibilities for the implementation of advanced control algorithms. Therefore a new hard- and software control concept for the motors and the joints was developed. In order to find appropriate controller parameters the dynamic behavior of the joints is analyzed by means of a nonlinear system identification using a Hammerstein model. The result of the system identification shows that the dynamic behavior of the joints is PT1 element with two nonlinearities, a dead zone and a nonlinear gain. Therefore a “piecewise linear” PI controller – the gain depends from the velocity – will be implemented on a COA processor. Finally an outlook on further works will be described.

Muscle activity during daily life in the older people.

Daily muscle activity is important for functional independence. This study examined muscle activity patterns during normal daily life and simulated daily tasks and compared muscle activity and energy consumption during active and passive transport tasks in older adults. Nine volunteers (70±6years) were measured for quadriceps and hamstring muscle activity (EMG) during normal daily life, treadmill walking, and during passive and active transport tasks. EMG was normalized to that recorded during maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Oxygen uptake (VO2) was measured during treadmill and transport tasks. During daily life the mean EMG amplitude was 5.9±2.4% of EMGMVC, activity time was 187±43min and the longest continuous inactivity periods were 20.9±10.0min. During stair ascend the peak EMG activity was 120% of EMGMVC and the peak VO2 values were only about 70% of VO2max. One kilometer walk consumed 3.5 times more energy than passive transport by bus, and using stairs consumed 11.7 times more energy than using an elevator. In daily life, older adults use only a small fraction of muscle's maximal capacity and have long continuous inactivity periods. Negotiating stairs produce significant load to neuromuscular, but not to cardiovascular system, thus providing an effective strength training stimulus.

Age trajectories of everyday cognition in African American and White older adults under prompted and unprompted conditions

ABSTRACTWe investigated how race and verbal prompting interacted with age to predict age trajectories on a performance-based measure of everyday cognition. African American (n = 727) and White (n = 2052) older adults from the ACTIVE clinical trial were given the Observed Tasks of Daily Living (OTDL; a performance-based measure of medication management/finances/telephone use) at baseline and 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year follow-ups. When participants said “I don't know” or did not respond, they received a standardised verbal prompt, which served only as a cue to initiate the first step. At each occasion, unprompted (sum of items correct without prompting) and prompted (sum of correct prompted and unprompted items) scores were derived for each participant.Mixed effects models for change were used to determine the age trajectories of OTDL performance by race. When not prompted, African Americans demonstrated more rapid decline in OTDL performance than Whites, especially after age 80. When prompted, both groups had improved performance and evinced shallower decline, although African Americans continued to demonstrate a slightly more rapid decline.Simple prompting attenuated age-related changes of African Americans and Whites on a measure of everyday cognition. Prompting may be especially helpful for older African Americans.

Influence of dual-task on sit-to-stand-to-sit postural control in Parkinson's disease

Postural control deficits are the most disabling aspects of Parkinson's disease (PD), resulting in decreased mobility and functional independence. The aim of this study was to assess the postural control stability, revealed by variables based on the centre of pressure (CoP), in individuals with PD while performing a sit-to-stand-to-sit sequence under single- and dual-task conditions.An observational, analytical and cross-sectional study was performed. The sample consisted of 9 individuals with PD and 9 healthy controls. A force platform was used to measure the CoP displacement and velocity during the sit-to-stand-to-sit sequence. The results were statistically analysed.Individuals with PD required greater durations for the sit-to-stand-to-sit sequence than the controls (p < 0.05). The anteroposterior and mediolateral CoP displacement were higher in the individuals with PD (p < 0.05). However, only the anteroposterior CoP velocity in the stand-to-sit phase (p = 0.006) was lower in the same individuals. Comparing the single- and dual-task conditions in both groups, the duration, the anteroposterior CoP displacement and velocity were higher in the dual-task condition (p < 0.05).The individuals with PD presented reduced postural control stability during the sit-to-stand-to-sit sequence, especially when under the dual-task condition. These individuals have deficits not only in motor performance, but also in cognitive performance when performing the sit-to-stand-to-sit sequence in their daily life tasks. Moreover, both deficits tend to be intensified when two tasks are performed simultaneously.

Validity of a New Tool for Assessing the Discrepancy Between Observed and Self-Reported Quality of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Task Performance

Abstract Date Presented 4/17/2015 This study presents validity and reliability evidence for the Assessment of Compared Qualities—Occupational Performance (ACQ–OP), an innovative occupation-focused tool designed to measure the extent of the discrepancy between two perspectives: a person’s self-report and direct observation.

Spatial adaption of robot trajectories based on laplacian trajectory editing

Assuming that a robot trajectory is given from a high-level planning or learning mechanism, it needs to be adapted to react to dynamic environment changes. In this article we propose a novel approach to deform trajectories while keeping their local shape similar, which is based on the discrete Laplace---Beltrami operator. The approach can be readily extended and covers multiple deformation techniques including fixed waypoints that must be passed, positional constraints for collision avoidance or a cooperative manipulation scheme for the coordination of multiple robots. Due to its low computational complexity it allows for real-time trajectory deformation both on local and global scale and online adaptation to changed environmental constraints. Simulations illustrate the straightforward combination of the proposed approach with other established trajectory-related methods like artificial potential fields or prioritized inverse kinematics. Experiments with the HRP-4 humanoid successfully demonstrate the applicability in complex daily-life tasks.